James,  
  
I don't think we should mention free trade and NAFTA in the same  
sentence.  
  
NAFTA is what we used to call a customs union - a term that may  
have gone out of fashion.  
  
Perhaps we shouldn't mention free trade without the prefix  
'unilateral'. Free trade is not a result of political  
arrangements - as are customs union. Rather it is the deliberate  
decision of a country to abandon restrictions on imports.  
  
It's not even an economic policy. Trade has been normal  
throughout the history of Man. On the other hand, protection -  
the deliberate restriction of imports - is indeed an economic  
policy, or at least a political policy though nowadays the  
distinction is often unclear.  
  
How the simple exchange of goods has become of the years a matter  
of global negotiations might be an interesting part of the  
history of economics.  
  
Harry Pollard